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    May 6th, 2009LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    Georgia PINES Survey: Evergreen Delivers

    MAY 6, 2009
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    ATLANTA — Georgia PINES, the statewide consortium powered by Evergreen open source library software, has achieved the highest-ever user satisfaction ratings in the five-year history of its annual survey. Based on the 2009 survey, 19 out of 20 respondents (95.6 percent) would recommend the Evergreen-powered PINES system to friends, according to Chris Sharp, PINES Program Manager.

    PINES is a statewide consortium providing a shared catalog of nearly 10 million items to nearly 280 library outlets in nearly 140 counties, with a single library card that is welcomed in all member libraries. PINES, a project of Georgia Public Library Service, developed Evergreen software and launched it statewide in September, 2006. Evergreen is now used in hundreds of libraries worldwide.

    Sharp added that more than four out of five (82.9 percent) use the catalog at least weekly to renew books online, place holds on books, determine fines, or see what items they have checked out.

    92 percent of respondents – up from 77 percent prior to Evergreen’s introduction – also agreed or strongly agreed with these statements:

    • It is easy to use the PINES online catalog.
    • I typically find what I am looking for using the PINES online catalog.
    • It is easy to determine if my library owns a particular item.
    • If my local library does not have an item I need, it is easy to find and obtain the item through the PINES system.
    • It is easy to renew my materials through the PINES online catalog.
    • I am satisfied with the PINES statewide library card system.

    “This survey underscores the success of Evergreen,” said Brad LaJeunesse, president of Equinox Software Inc., the support and development company for Evergreen founded by the original Evergreen developers. “Evergreen is user-friendly, powerful, and reliable, and opens the door to consortial sharing on a massive scale—a crucial capability in rough economic times.”

    Complete results of the 2009 PINES User Satisfaction Survey can be found online at http://www.georgialibraries.org/pines/aboutpines .

    About Evergreen

    Evergreen is consortial-quality, open-source library software initially developed to
    support Georgia PINES, a resource-sharing consortium with over 270 public libraries. Evergreen was designed from the ground up to be robust, fault-tolerant, service-oriented, and standards-based. Evergreen nimbly evolves to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia, while elegantly scaling down to the smallest library sites.
    The growing, multinational Evergreen development community has shepherded Evergreen through a series of carefully-planned releases that have further strengthened Evergreen’s consortial capabilities while adding popular and useful functionality. Evergreen 2.0, due out in 2009, will add acquisitions, serials, and reserves to Evergreen’s outstanding functionality.

    From its debut in September 2006, Evergreen has earned acclaim and praise from users worldwide, including a Technology Collaboration Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional Evergreen implementations include consortial projects such as Michigan Evergreen, Evergreen Indiana, and British Columbia SITKA, and libraries such as Kent County Public Library in Maryland, Marshall Public Library in Missouri, the National Weather Center Library, and the University of Prince Edward Island.
    Other libraries contracting with Equinox software for future Evergreen services include King County Library System (a public library system in Washington State), the thirteen libraries of Natural Resources Canada, North Texas Regional Library System, and South Carolina LENDS, an 11-library consortium. A number of libraries “go it alone” with Evergreen by providing their own migration and support, which further demonstrates the power, ease, and reliability of this state-of-the-art library software.
    For more information about Evergreen, see http://evergreen-ils.org.

    About Equinox Software, Inc.

    Founded by the original Evergreen designers and developers, Equinox Software is a growing team of skilled developers and other professionals who provide comprehensive support for Evergreen, the consortial-quality, open source Integrated Library System (ILS). Equinox develops, supports, trains, migrates, integrates, and consults on Evergreen, and engages with the rapidly expanding Evergreen community. Instead of one-size-fits-all support, Equinox works closely with libraries to ensure Evergreen is implemented in the manner that best fits their individual needs.
    In addition to support, custom development and integration services, Equinox offers complete Evergreen hosting packages for libraries wishing to outsource their ILS infrastructure. Equinox also provides consulting services for libraries seeking more insight into the value proposition of open source software.

    Press contact: Corinne Hall, corinne@esilibrary.com, 678-269-6113
    For more information on Equinox Software, please visit http://www.esilibrary.com.

    Evergreen is open source software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL. Evergreen and the Evergreen logo are trademarks of the Georgia Public Library Service.

  • scissors
    May 6th, 2009LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    MAY 6, 2009 – For several years, Kirtas Technologies has provided digitizing systems, services and software to university and public libraries, corporations, government agencies, and other organizations requiring outstanding quality digital images for their rare and out-of-print books, manuscripts and other important documents.

    So why wouldn’t we offer that same high-quality, digital imaging workflow to museums, art galleries, historical societies and archives around the world? With the addition of SkyView—the company’s first digitization system for oversized documents and materials—these organizations can now digitize not only books in their libraries or that are part of an exhibit collection, but also large maps, photographs, works on paper, postcards, oversize books, books with foldouts, and even three-dimensional artifacts for cataloging purposes and the creation of online exhibits.

    In addition to the company’s debut at AAM Expo, Kirtas announces that Natalie Russo has joined the company as an imaging expert with experience in museum photography and fine-art reproduction.

    Prior to joining the Kirtas team, she worked as a photographer at the Yale University Art Gallery; the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut.

    “I’m very excited to be a part of the Kirtas team,” Russo said. “My entire education and work experience has been focused on high-quality, digital imaging. To now be working for a company that shares that passion and sees the significance and importance of it is really thrilling for me.”

    One of the highlights of her career thus far, was working at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Russo spent two years working on the collection relocation of photographs, art and artifacts from the museum’s location in the Bronx to its new home in Washington, D.C.

    Russo attended Rochester Institute of Technology. She holds a Master’s in Print Media with a concentration in Color Science focusing on digital imaging work flows and fine art reproduction. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Photography.

    About Kirtas Technologies
    Kirtas Technologies has pioneered and perfected the technology used today in quality, high-speed, nondestructive mass digitization. A proven workflow ensuring superior image quality, advanced search capabilities, unique archiving technology, and extensive metadata enabling multiple output options that stand the test of time are what set us apart and keep Kirtas at the forefront of the digital revolution. Learn more at www.kirtas.com